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Organizing a Training

There are several ways to learn more about EMMA and PCMA and to gain the practical skills and experience needed to lead assessments on your own. Here are some suggestions for how to pursue additional training:

Standalone, classroom-based trainings used to be organized on a fairly regular basis, though these days most agencies simply organize workshops that are linked to actual assessments. Organizing a standalone training is still very possible, as demand for such trainings is high, training materials are available, and numerous consultants and humanitarian practitioners are qualified to facilitate them - it's simply a matter of obtaining funding for such a training and putting in the effort to organize one. You may want to use the Market in Crises dgroup as a forum for advertising the training and circulating a TOR for a consultant trainer. Be sure to allow at least a few months to organize an EMMA or PCMA training, as many qualified consultants are booked several months in advance.

Volunteer yourself as a critical market team leader or motivated team member for an upcoming emergency market assessment, such as EMMA, PCMA, RAM or MAG. This is almost certainly the most effective way to learn. Emergency market assessments take place on a fairly regular basis, and PCMAs, which are generally planned further in advance, are becoming more common. Organizations are frequently grateful for qualified and motivated people who are willing to commit to team for the full length of an EMMA or PCMA assessment. Try to connect with these organizations by staying informed of what's happening in your local sectoral clusters, by expressing your interest to technical markets staff within your own organizations, or through the Markets in Crises listserv. Don't be afraid to ask about any upcoming assessments and to volunteer yourself as a (self-funding) team member.

The IRC and CaLP have just released two e-learning courses on market assessments on the Disaster Ready platform (currently available in both English and French, Arabic version forthcoming in early 2017). There is a short intro course, Introduction to Market Analysis (Introduction à l’analyse de marché), and a fairly comprehensive course on market assessments for practitioners, A Practical Guide to Market Analysis (Guide pratique de l’analyse de marché), that is designed to provide learners with much of the theoretical learning you would get from participating in an in-person EMMA training. You have to register on the Disaster Ready website (this is free), and then search for the course titles in italics above. You can then you can access the courses at any time, starting and stopping as your time allows. The IFRC's Learning Platform also has a couple of online courses on market assessments that are freely available. There is an intro course and an overview of the RAM (a market assessment tool that is similar to EMMA, though more rapid).